The fight that never fades
by leggo lover 99
Summary: After searching for a new energon deposit, Optimus is knocked out and kidnapped. He gets imprisoned away from his team with only Megatron for company-but when that company is determined to force you to become one with the all spark-life can't get any worse. anything more will give the plot away! READ AND REVIEW! I can't explain without ruining it! Rated T for torture and maybe more
1. Prologue

**Introduction**

**Optimus Prime P.O.V**

"What happened?"

"…How we found him…"

"…You fix him?"

"…All spark, this is bad…"

"…To my lab…"

"Quickly!"

Broken fragments of hurried conversation floated around Optimus Prime's head. Every word seemed strange, each sentence uncompleted, yet what was causing this interference between the Autobot and the real world seemed to be the darkness. Everywhere he looked- each direction his head turned, there was nothing but pure blackness, constantly swirling, taking Optimus' body far away from feeling, warping the happenings of the outside world.

"…Metal torch…"

"…But…"

"…Jagged edges…"

What was going on out there?

The only thing the Prime could determine was that his friend Ratchet was there- his voice the main one to hear- therefore- Optimus hoped that he was in the Autobot base, however, there were other voices alongside the Medic, all bringing up a picture of a face, yet there were too blurred to distinguish friend or foe.

Suddenly- there was a flash of a white light, a bolt of pain- then the darkness drew closer, fully enveloping his conscious mind.

* * *

"He's waking up!"

"Thank the all spark!"

The muttering continued, sounding joyous, waking Optimus from the darkness.

He blinked in the bright lights, revealing the base, just as he had hoped.

The earlier darkness had all vanished; pushed away it seemed, by new light.

This was the good news. The bad being the fact that in the darkness, he could feel nothing- no sensations, but now he was in the light, every inch of his metal body was filled with pain.

Wanting to understand what had happened, Optimus shifted a little, but a firm hand pushed him back down.

"Optimus, don't move," Ratchet, "You were… _hurt_… just, wait…"

Opening his eyelids once again, Optimus could see _all _of team prime being ushered briskly out by the medic, andthen Ratchet quietly closed the heavy metal door.

Upon seeing the fully alert prime, Ratchet reached out a slightly shaky hand, letting it rest on Optimus' shoulder- the symbol of their friendship.

"You gave us quite a scare, old friend," his voice seemed to wobble, "Optimus; we thought we had lost you…"

* * *

**WHAT'S HAPPENED?!**

**WHY IS OUR HERO LIKE THIS?**

**REVIEW WITH YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS! MY 1ST TRANSFORMERS STORY- SO I NEED COMMENTS- NEXT CHAP COMING WITHIN THE WEEK!**


	2. What do human's know?

**Chapter 1**

**24 hours earlier**

"There's a large energon deposit not far from here." Raf called down to Ratchet, who was busy fixing up the ground bridge after another infestation of Scraplets had decided the Autobots would like guests.

"Oh yes," Ratchet mocked, laughing, his head submerged in the underfloor panel, "Of course _humans_ know what an _energon warning_ looks like!"

"But-" Raf tried, but was cut off,

"I know how you humans work!" Ratchet continued, "All think they're so smart- that they're-"

But what humans were, poor Raf never found out, for just before Ratchet could finish his bragging, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and Optimus all rushed into the room.

"Ratchet- why did you not warn us about the energon deposit while we were outside?" Optimus' booming voice echoed around the confined space- making the medical Autobot jump, missing his head by inches with the side of the hole.

"An _energon _deposit?" Ratchet seemed lost for words- turning to the smug looking Raf, then at the flashing screen, "Oh…" was all he could manage.

"Is the ground bridge ready?" Arcee questioned, giving the bumblebee's partner an odd look.

Shaking his head, Ratchet looked up at the screen.

"It's only half completed, and could scatter your parts to the winds if it is used now," he stated, getting his baring back- making sure that the pleased Raf couldn't jump in, "But it's only ten miles away- so you will just have to use your vehicle mode."

Then he buried his head back in the hole,

"I should be able to get this sorted within the hour- so I should manage to collect you once you have retrieved the energon- but I'm positive with a deposit so large- the Decepticons will be soon after it."

Nodding, Optimus waved a hand to his team-

"Autobots, roll out!" he ordered, before transforming into his long nosed cab state and charged towards the tunnel, a yellow sports car, a blue motor cycle and a green SUV following close behind.

Turning his head back towards Raf, Ratchet glared at him,

"Not a _word_ to the others about that!" the medic growled, "You'll put me out of a job!"

"Who will?" Mikio smiled sweetly, walking back into the room closely followed by Jack, "Is there another bot who is _better_ than you?" the girl teased.

Looking outraged, Ratchet opened his mouth to speak- however was interrupted by Raf,

"I just saw an energon warning before Ratchet did- he's kind of mad about it…" he finished with a smile.

Looking up, Jack grinned at the remaining Autobot,

"You're losing your touch big man!" then, suddenly, he cocked his head at the silence, "Um, Ratchet, where's everyone gone?"

His head buried once again, the voice emerged with a slight echo,

"Why don't you ask Raf?!" if an Autobot could- he sounded slightly cheesed off.

Rolling his wide eyes, Raf jumped down next to Ratchet and tapped the large metal foot-

"Ratchet- I _can't _reach the control panel, even if I wanted to…"

There was a pause, "So… you need me?"

All three of the humans nodded.

"So _I_ can take back control?"

Another group of nods, that was the moment two things happened,

The first was that Ratchet jumped up out of the hole, and instantly started something like a dance of celebration- moving his fists in small circles, shaking his behind, in general- looking stupid- leaving the humans in fits of laughter.

The second thing was slightly more realistic, Optimus' voice boomed through the transmitter, asking for Decepticon reports, of which there was none.

And thus, the day started…

**soooo? adding a little Ratchet there- as come on! he's awesome!**

**the usual- REVIEWS ARE HONORED AS GODS!**


	3. They're using cloaking devices

**Chapter 2**

About nine miles from the energon deposit, Optimus checked in for another Decepticon report- revealing they were closing in- but five miles away.

"Autobots," the Prime raised his voice over the transmitters, "Prepare to set up defensive positions around the site."

There were different sounds of agreement, then Bulkhead, without any warning, veered off track, electro bolts vibrating around his metal plates.

"Scrap!" Arcee shouted, "Their using cloaking devices!"

"RATCHET!" Optimus raised his voice over the blaster fire as he transformed, "Bulkhead down- repeat, Bulkhead down. We are under attack from cloaked enemies, await further reports."

He raised his own blaster and swung round- searching for assailants to fire upon- yet these strange attackers hid themselves extremely well- no credit to the Decepticons themselves- just to the cloaking devices each of them were supporting.

Arcee rushed over to cover Bulkhead, raising her blasters and circling the unmoving Autobot; trying to cover from all angles, while Bumblebee and Optimus himself stood back to back, their keen eyes searching for any blurring of the air or vapour trails to indicate where the enemies were waiting.

Nothing.

Silence.

Stillness.

Ratchet's voice crackled over the com link, jolting Optimus from his concentration.

"Optimus- how's Bulkhead- is he responding? What's happening to the rest of you? I'm losing your signals- the enemy must… have-" then without warning, the link faded to static- hiding the medic's voice.

Cocking his head, Bumblebee turned to Optimus over his shoulder, asking if he had heard what Ratchet had said.

Optimus nodded gravely.

"Not only do our attackers have means to turn invisible- they have blocked our signals." Optimus reported to his scout, "It will be near impossible to attack…"

Letting the hopeless comment hang in the air, the prime glanced around, a plan forming.

Without warning anyone- Optimus fired about 20 degrees from where the original bolt had appeared from, sending up a cloud of dust and- just as Optimus had planned- the nearby Decepticon- who- believing the bolt was aimed for them and that the prime could see them- had fired back, revealing their position.

"Autobots!" Optimus raised his voice, "Fire!"

And fire they did, shooting around the area the bolt had appeared from- there was an explosion, and a large dent pushed dust away, revealing where the enemy had landed.

"One down-" Arcee muttered through the com, "Unknown amount to go…"

The other Decepticons- if there were indeed more- had grown wise to the tactic now, so were keeping quiet, their guns not powered up.

"No, Bumblebee-" Optimus answered what his scout was asking, "This is not hopeless…" but even as the words came out from under his lower face mask, the Prime knew the yellow Autobot was correct. There was no logical way to attack, they couldn't contact Ratchet at the base to look for heat signatures, not to mention the fact that their opponents were too well covered with gadgets to get a fix on them from his current position.

This could be one fight the prime feared they would lose…

**here it is... so how is it? How will they cope?!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**LL99 OUT**


	4. Oh scrap

**Chapter 3**

"Optimus! Optimus, do you read? Optimus?!"

Cursing under his breath, Ratchet stared up at his blank monitors, troubled thoughts rushing through his head.

He had no way of knowing what was going on in the area- only had the knowledge that the attackers were cloaked, most probably using scramblers, but what troubled him was the report about Bulkhead. Looking at his wrist monitor, which- thankfully- was separate from the com links, meaning that the vitals still showed- however, Bulkhead's had dropped considerably lower than an average wound would.

Whatever had happened was serious.

Suddenly, there was a beep on the monitor- one similar to the noise the monitors had made earlier when Bulkhead's vitals dropped.

"No…" The medic whispered, not believing what he saw.

Optimus' vitals had dropped_lower_ than Bulkheads- this was getting worse by the second.

Turning, Ratchet shouted across the vast hall,

"Raf! Set up a ground bridge- I'm going in." His voice hid the mad panic lying beneath, but the serious tone brought Raf rushing towards his laptop, closely followed by the other two.

Grasping the handle of his medical kit, Ratchet moved towards the ground bridge, waiting for it to spark to life.

Then, as the brilliant blue flared up, the doctor heard a small feminine gasp. Mikio.

"Ratchet?" Her voice was quiet, scared, "What's happened to them?"

Then Jack's voice cut in,

"Arcee…"

Spinning in surprise- Ratchet saw the female Autobot's vitals follow Bulkhead's and Optimus'.

With only a, "By the all spark," Ratchet transformed and sped down the bridge, hoping that he could make it in time.

There was another small gasp from the control panel as a final beep reached the wrist monitor which was placed in the centre of the dashboard inside the medical vehicle.

Ratchet didn't need to look to know that their final Autobot had fallen.

"Hold on … Just a little longer…" he muttered under his breath. Then Ratchet burst from the ground bridge, entering the chaos of the battle scene….

"Oh scrap…" was all he could manage.

**Sorry it's only short, but REVIEW ALL THE SAME!**

**WHAT'S MADE OUR RATCHET SAY THE SCRAP WORD? WHAT HAS HE FOUND?**


	5. Why is Ratchet right?

**Chapter 4**

**Arcee P.O.V**

Slowly, I opened my weary optics, and to my surprise, I came face to face with Ratchet.

Then, without any warning, pain kicked in- not overpowering, yet bad enough for me to let out a groan. Great, I cursed silently, I had been injured.

"Don't move Arcee," The doc ordered, running his scanner down my chest, "You were all hurt pretty bad…"

Unfortunately, I knew Ratchet too well now, his optics were slightly unfocused, clear signs of worry and grief. Something had gone wrong- _very_ wrong.

"Ratchet," I pulled myself up, ignoring his protests, "What else happened?"

He just looked at me, his mouth moving slightly, yet no words came out. He shook his head dolefully then straightened, waving a hand around the medical bay.

"Just look Arcee- you can see for yourself…"

Then with a sharp throb of my head, I could recall what had happened, how Bulkhead had fallen, then Optimus and then I remembered being taken by the darkness. I clutched my head for a moment longer, allowing the tidal wave of pain to pass, pretending not to see Ratchet's concerned glance.

Once my head had cleared, I looked up.

"No…"

Ratchet nodded, appearing helpless,

"I have no idea how it happened… When I bridged in, this was what I found…" he sighed, "You have only suffered a mild concussion- just rest for you until you fully recover, the same with Bumblebee, but Bulkhead and Optimus…" he let the sentence finish itself.

I looked at the mess surrounding me.

On a table next to me was Bumblebee, a large blackened stain of an explosion rested upon his chest plates- one which I could see on my own. Blaster marks- strong ones.

Bulkhead, on the other hand, lay on another table, life support tubes attached to his oversized front, his vitals steady. For now.

But twisting around, I couldn't see anyone else except for the humans, Raf sat next to Bumblebee, Mikio resting against Bulkhead's side and Jack…

"Hey there." He looked up at me- concern in his eyes.

"Hey yourself."

He smiled and I felt on rise on my own face- but within seconds, it had faded once more.

"Ratchet- is Optimus…" I couldn't bear to say those dreaded words: _with the all spark_…

Shaking his head, the medic stared at his wrist monitor, then held it out for me to see.

There was no readings at all, not even the faintest sign of life.

I just continued to look at it flabbergasted, then I realised that Optimus wasn't even in the room. If he had indeed passed, Ratchet would have left his body in sight as a sign of respect, but he wasn't there.

"Where-" I was about to ask, but the medic cut across me,

"I don't know- I'm hoping Bumblebee will know, for he was the last to see him…"

He fell into silence once more. The pain and concern showing clearly on his face.

"Will find him Ratchet," I vowed, touching his arm, "They've probably…" I faltered, not wanting to say the dreaded words of why Megatron had captured Optimus and not killed him on site.

_To see us suffer without him…_

Ratchet nodded stiffly, then turned towards Bumblebee, checking his monitor. There was a cough then he spoke, voice hoarse,

"You need rest Arcee, don't push yourself, you need to take it easy..."

I stared open mouthed at the medic, ignoring Jack trying to speak to me.

"Ratchet, why should _I rest_ when Optimus is stuck goodness knows where! We need to find him-" but then I stopped, and clenched my chest plate in agony, the blast had caused some damage.

"Arcee!"

At Jack's tone, Ratchet spun round and pushed me back down,

"Please Arcee-" I could see the pain once more in his optics, "Rest. Raf is working on tracking Optimus' signal-" was there a touch of, _fondness_, at the mention of the human's name? "The best help you can be," he continued, "is ready when we find Optimus."

Grudgingly, I lowered myself back down, closing my optics.

Why was Ratchet right?

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	6. Mine will be the only face

**Chapter 5**

**Optimus prime P.O.V**

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Wearily, the prime opened his optics, dank light filtering in slowly, followed by a broad figure of silver.

Automatically, Optimus' head snapped upwards at the appearance of his foe, but it sank back down without warning for some reason unknown to the Prime.

There was a harsh laugh.

"Ah, Optimus, what a, _pleasure_, it is to finally have you upon my ship by my own terms." The Decepticon's face peered down at his own, the cold purple eyes meeting the blue, "If you are wondering why you can't move- I've laced my Pulser ray with a small mix of dark energon, letting me have enough control over your body to temporally paralyse you."

Optimus just looked in shock. That was a huge step forward in Decepticon technology, a dangerous weapon. Bulkhead had been hit by the same weapon, therefore, he must be in a similar state.

Silently, Optimus hoped that Ratchet had thought to run a blood analysis.

His attention snapped back to Megatron.

"What do you want with me, Megatron?" the prime found he still had the use of his voice.

Pointed teeth appeared in a flash.

"Oh Orion," Optimus flinched at his old name- the one which had imprisoned his away from his true allies, "You still don't realise it do you?" the dark lord seemed disappointed. "Our prophecy still has not been fulfilled- both you and I still stand…" a cruel smile grew, "But for no longer. Knockout!"

Megatron raised his voice, and hurriedly, the red Decepticon entered the room, pushing a metal trolley covered in various devices to imply pain.

"Can you believe these bots!" the medic cursed, as the trolley pulled up alongside his leader, "Not one would donate a weapon to use against the leader of the Autobots! I mean- they all only care for themselves-"

"Thank you, Knockout-" Megatron snapped, then after inspecting the instruments before him, he looked back at Knockout with a cunning gleam in his eye, "Knockout- do you still have your own circular saw?"

The prime knew what was coming, yet Knockout was too occupied with checking for any scratches on his paintwork to see the evil glance from his master.

The medic grinned,

"Of course I do-" and to prove his point, his saw came out, freshly polished by the looks of it, "All ready to cut someone up- hey! What are you doing! Mind my paint job!" The cocky aura vanished, replaced by panic, as Megatron's huge claws came down over the blade, jerking it sideways, snapping it clean off.

The dark lord turned back to Optimus, ignoring the curses from the wounded Knockout, who was clutching his stump of his arm, trying to stop the seeping energon flow- yet failing miserably.

"Now Orion," Megatron hissed, holding the saw up so it caught the light, flashing a warning, "Where were we?"

Glaring at his foe, Optimus continued to test his fingers, attempting to find a way to escape his prison.

Megaton cocked his head slightly, as if listening to something- then his beady eyes flew down to the prime's hand.

"Oh Optimus- I expected more…" the Decepticon brought down the saw hard, directly into the metal plating of Optimus' arm, spaying both sparks and energon, "I can feel your every movement!" He growled, pulling the saw back, savouring the grunts of pain from the Autobot leader, "And _I _control every part of you now!" The maniac laughed harshly, staring intrigued at the dripping energon for a moment, before ramming the weapon back into Optimus' paralysed form, this time into the other arm.

"You feel that?" he spat, "You feel how it is to be helpless while someone else pokes around inside of you? Well now you understand how it was to have your pathetic scout delve inside _my_ mind!"

Roaring now- the dark lord didn't notice the wounded Knockout crawl out of range of his master's wrath, scuttling along the floor leaking a trail of deep energon.

Yet despite not drawing a cry from his enemy, Megatron relished the way that Optimus was flinching with the limited face movement the dark energon allowed, as well as how he was groaning lightly, his optics fading slightly as his energon levels were rapidly lowered.

"_Megatron…_" Optimus moaned, almost pleadingly, earning another stab of the saw into his chest.

"This is your fate," Megatron hissed as Knockout disappeared around the corner, "From now until the moment your spark leaves your broken husk- mine will be the only face you will see…"

Hearing a fading laugh, as he used all his strength to halt crying out in pain, Optimus felt his optics close, finally bringing darkness and peace…

**AS USUAL- READ AND REVIEW GUYS- REVIEWS ARE WORSHIPED!**


	7. Rafael, you are a genius!

**SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT- MY COMPUTER GOT ATTACKED AND HAS BEEN OFF TO THE REPAIR PLACE FOR A WHILE... BUT IT'S BACK NOW! **

**READ AND REVIEW YOUR THOUGHTS!**

**Chapter 6**

**Ratchet P.O.V**

Tapping on the vitals' monitor, the old field medic was busy inspecting the results of several tests.

Cursing mentally, Ratchet tried to work out where his calculations had gone wrong, for something didn't seem to quite add up.

"Hey, Ratchet?"

Huffing to himself, the medic attempted to ignore the inquisitive human, but that was near impossible when that human was tapping on your toe repetitively.

"Rafael, can't you see that I'm in the middle of something!" the grumpy Autobot snapped, waving his wrist monitor in the still unconscious Bulkhead's direction.

The human had his so called 'laptop' resting upon the crook of his arm, and from his height, Ratchet could only see a mix of blurred equations.

"Ratchet- I've found the hitch which may be causing Bulkhead to still be…" Rafael faltered, not knowing what to say.

Rolling his optics, the medic knelt down before the human, wondering if he had actually managed to understand Cybertronian biology, but as the tiny screen came into focus- Ratchet could only gasp in surprise.

"By the all spark…" he whispered hoarsely, staring unbelieving at the data in front of him, "Rafael, how did you think to test this?"

Confused at the Autobot's reaction, Raf pushed his glasses up his nose before speaking,

"Well… when I saw that Bulkhead's brain activity was around normal- I wondered if stasis was the correct assumption- yet why wouldn't it be?" he was getting into his stride now, "Your scans show that there are no physical injuries- therefore he couldn't be paralysed- yet the brain activity shows that Bulkhead should be fine." Taking a breath, Rafael continued, "So I analysed the energon sample you took before, and broke up the genetic structure of it- and I realised that the imprint it had was matching to dark energon…"

Clicking the minuscule key pad, a new image of data cropped up on the screen, widening the old medic's optics even more than they were already.

"Rafael, you are a genius!" the red and white Autobot shook his head despite the excitement in his voice, knowing full well that the results of Bulkhead's condition would be complex to reverse, "Download the data to the monitors," Ratchet commanded, standing upright, desperate to start the difficult procedure ahead of him, "and alert the team, I will need to explain this discovery to them."

Nodding, the small boy pulled a thin cord out of his rucksack, attaching on end to his laptop, then inserting the other into the bulky generator beside him.

"Commencing upload." Raf reported, setting the device on the side, before hurrying over to the communications panel.

"Guys," the boy opened up every com link in the team, including those to Jack and Mikio's cell phones, "We have new intel on Bulkhead- come back to the base- quickly!"

This statement was followed by various reactions, including a sound from Mikio that sounded vaguely like sobbing, which was possible, taking how upset she had been into consideration.

"Copy that Raf," came Arcee's voice, "ETA four minutes, this had better work…"

**Four minutes later**

As the last Autobot- Bumblebee- rolled into the base, Ratchet brought up Raf's findings onto the large monitor.

"Thanks to Rafael's extensive research, we have reason to believe that we now know what the matter with Bulkhead is," Ratchet started his classic strolling up and down the base as he explained, "According to Bulkhead's brain activity, he should be up on his feet, ready for combat, however- as we can all see, he isn't." every head turned to the still Autobot. Sighing, the medic continued, "Rafael analysed Bulkhead's scans to reveal that there are no physical injuries present, therefore, there had to be another cause for these non-responsive signs. Rafael looked into Bulkhead's energon samples, and traced a foreign matter- and this," the medic raised an arm, "Is the problem."

The screen zoomed in on the energon sample, revealing a purple patch and the team all gasped.

"Dark energon…" Jack muttered and Ratchet nodded,

"Yes, what we can see here is a source of dark energon. Megatron must have laced his Pulser cannon with the matter, enabling him to control the body of that bot- therefore, paralysing him." Pausing, Ratchet touched his chin, "Bumblebee- you saw Optimus get shot with the same Pulser cannon didn't you?" there was a whistle of agreement, the medic continued, "That must mean that Optimus is in a similar way to Bulkhead…" the medic's optics lit up, "We can find Optimus…" he whispered, his old face breaking into a wide grin, ignoring the surprised glances from the others, "As I attempt to help Bulkhead, you can work on finding Optimus!"

Laughing, Ratchet turned back to the screen.

"Um… Ratchet?" Arcee stepped forward, her voice dull with disbelief, "_How_ exactly? He's most probably on the Decepticon warship, which is cloaked and took Starscream _months_ to find, and, oh yeah- _he's_ a Decepticon!" the femme reminded, hating to cut the hope of finding their leader in two.

However, the medic's optics stayed bright as he turned back around.

"Don't you get it?" he cried, throwing his bulky arms up high, "This is dark _energon_ we are speaking about- therefore- it's a type of _energon_!"

Bumblebee let out a low whistle as he grasped what the medic was saying.

"Exactly bumblebee!" Ratchet grinned, "We can track any energon on Earth- and Dark energon has a higher frequency when it comes up!"

Spinning back to the monitor, Ratchet started to type rapidly, bringing an image of the Earth on the screen, then nodding to Raf, the boy added his own piece of code to the equation, bringing up a small purple dot.

"Optimus…" Arcee breathed, "How did yo-"

His smile faltering, Ratchet shook his head,

"No, not Optimus- Bulkhead." He explained, his enthusiasm slipping slightly, "Rafael just fine tuned the sensors, so that we can pick up any dark energon signs, no matter how small." He held up a finger as Arcee was about to jump in, "But- without more tinkering, we can only receive Intel from a 100 click radius, showing that around the base, the only dark energon is in Bulkhead's energon."

Taking a step forward, the medic put his hands behind his back,

"Arcee. Bumblebee. You both need to complete any orders Rafael give to you, for he understands this limited technology, and you don't." turning sharply, Ratchet faced the unconscious Autobot, "Meanwhile, I will perform an energon replant on Bulkhead, in order to collect all of the dark energon."

Facing the small group he sighed, and rubbed his temple plate,

"This could be our only shot at finding Optimus, therefore, speed is of the upmost importance."

The medic gave a final nod to the smallest human, then made his way over to his patient,

"Bumblebee, help me move Bulkhead…"

**WE MAY FIND HIM AFTER ALL! YAY! OR BOO DEPENDING ON HOW EVIL YOU ARE... (;**

**REVIEW PLEASE AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN AS I DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW MYSELF YET!**


	8. Not even you are immune to injury

**Chapter 7**

**Optimus POV**

Several times the leader of destruction had returned to taunt the Prime, however- Optimus feared that he could not hold out for much longer.

Wounds covered his chest plates, all weeping energon after each torturous encounter, spilling down his sides, creating blue pools underneath his paralysed form. His legs were much in the same way, as was his face. All the cuts only shallow, yet the humiliation going much deeper, right into his very spark.

From his left, Optimus could make out a faint whoosh as the thundering footfalls of Megatron entered the prison once again.

"Ahh, Orion," the dark lord sighed the way he had come to during the sessions together, fully aware of the added pain the name caused, "How are you feeling?" mock sympathy.

"Why do you continue to do… this Megatron?" Optimus felt his voice weakening as he spoke, his strength continuing to ebb away.

Looking down, the Decepticon flashed his pointed teeth, his purple eyes glowing,

"Why? I will tell you why, _old friend_," he spat the last words, reminding the Prime of his dear friend Ratchet, "_You_, Optimus Prime, are the reason for this war's continuation, _you_ will continue your pathetic fight, even when _you_ are the only Autobot left alive. _Your_ determination has spurred on your team, leading to their destruction and suffering."

At the statement, Optimus' optics widened, releasing a mocking laugh from Megatron.

"It never occurred to you did it?" he hissed, "that every time you sent them into battle, you were just playing their lives without a care of the outcome." Megatron brought out his sword arm, the weapon glinting in the faded light, "But_ I_, Optimus Prime am merely doing your team a favour- the war has been won, now you are under _my_ control, and they can all _surrender_ peacefully, their sparks intact."

Optimus shook his head, ignoring the grinding from his joints as he stained against the dark energon,

"No, Megatron…" the prime attempted to keep his voice steady, yet his voice box wavered with the effort of speech, "My team do, not… need me in order, to… win this war."

The only effect this statement had upon the dark lord was a momentary silence, which then was broken by his cruel laughs,

"Oh, Optimus!" the Decepticon roared, "You have grown naive as your meeting with the all spark becomes inevitable." Megatron paused, "And it is_ I _who will deliver you to it."

The sword came down, sharp and fast, cutting deep into the Prime's chest plates, carving through the metal as if it were paper.

Optimus held in the scream that burned his throat, not willing to give Megatron any more pleasure from his pain.

The dark lord grinned,

"I can see you flinch Optimus, you cannot lie to me. I can feel your pain stab through the dark energon- go on, make my day… _scream._"

Still the Prime stayed silent.

"Still nothing?" Megatron hissed, his sword falling onto Optimus' left leg, sparks flying.

The Autobot moaned slightly, his Optics closing in pain.

"More Optimus! You can't hold on forever! Not even you are immune to injury!" the sword cut deeper, energon flowing fast from the wound.

This time, Optimus screamed. He could feel the weapon inside of his limb, moving between his wires, severing important arteries.

Megatron flashed his teeth, his purple optics glowing,

"Finally, Optimus! Now the fun really starts!"

The Decepticon leader ripped his sword out of the Prime's leg, flicking the blue energon from the blade so that it slashed onto the floor, all the time, savouring his nemesis' moans of pain.

Megatron retracted his sword, then moved his hand to the small table beside the operating slab, his sharp fingers running across the various tools of destruction, hesitating upon the spinning drill. He lifted it high, so that Optimus could clearly see it, then switched it on.

Slowly, his face splitting into an evil grin, Megatron moved the tool towards Optimus' face, the tip facing the Prime's optic.

Straining hard against the dark energon, Optimus tried to pull away from the drill, but it kept moving closer.

And closer.

And closer.

He shut his optics, but then the Decepticon pried it open once again with the power of the dark energon flowing through his veins.

The tip was nearly touching now, the spinning metal filling Optimus' vision.

Then, metal touched metal, and the Prime's scream could be heard all through the warship, closely followed by Megatron's cackle of glee…

**ONCE AGAIN- SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT.**

**REVIEW SUGGESTIONS.**

**Also to **Bluefeather4299, **thanks for all the reviews! Keep guessing people!**


	9. Without Optimus- the war is lost

**Chapter 8**

Slowly, light flickered in through tightly clenched optics as gradually, a room filtered into focus.

"Come on Bulkhead, nice and steady…"

Circling the prone Autobot, the whole team save Optimus were waiting with baited breath during and now after the delicate operation.

There was an audible groan from the direction of Bulkhead, and instantly, every member of team Prime leant forth, but were pushed back by the calm hands of Ratchet.

"Bulkhead? Can you hear me?" Ratchet spoke crisply towards his patient.

Raising one hefty arm into the air, there issued another groan, before Bulkhead managed to get out a few words,

"All, good, Rach…" then he lowered his arm and pushed himself upright, his weary face looking at his small crowd. His eyes flew over each member, froze, then moved back, "Say…" he muttered, "where's Optimus?"

It took close to an hour to fully explain the Autobot's current situation, but during that short time, Bulkhead had passed all of Ratchet's tests and questions, deeming him ready for action, much to his 'itchy fist's' delight.

"So now we need to find the location of the Decepticon warship?" The green wrecker pulled the wires of Ratchet's final scan off his wide chest, "How are we even going to do that?" he looked towards Arcee who shrugged and in turn, tilted her head to the medic.

"We know that the Pulser cannon Megatron used fired two shots, one at you," he nodded at Bulkhead's still scorched chest plates, "and one at Optimus." Ratchet turned to tap at the screen, bringing up a scan of Earth radiation levels, and pointed to a large trail leading across America on route to Greenland. "We also know that dark energon holds a clear signature which we can track, and it seems that the warship is leaking a trail, thankfully, giving us a general idea about where it is headed." He paused, his optics traveling upwards as if sudden realisation.

"How are we going to get aboard the warship?" Ratchet muttered to himself, his wide optics growing sad, "How could I of overlooked such an important detail?"

Bumblebee stepped forward, his hands gesturing as he beeped, *what about an energon mine?*

Ratchet's face grew cold, his eyes narrowing, "What about it?"

Before the scout could reply, Bulkhead muttered, "If we take an energon mine, then…" his face brightened, "we could stow away as they load the blue stuff up!" Laughing, Bulkhead slapped Bee on the back, forcing him to stagger forward.

Every face turned to the older Bot, looking for a scientific perspective on the mater.

There was a nod and each one of the Autobots cheered in their own way, Ratchet turning back to his screen and calculating coordinates for the nearest energon mine to the warship, finding one in the barren Greenland.

"Everybody!" Ratchet hollered to be heard above the celebrations, "I'm about to hack into the frequencies of the warship- it will be a two way communications line, but it will not be able to be tracked. Keep silent."

Complying, the entire cavern feel deathly still as Ratchet pushed on a key.

For a moment, there was only static, but suddenly, the booming voice of Megatron echoed into the room:

_"__Soundwave, take the warship to energon mine 4573 and do so quickly."_

_"__Lord Megatron,"_ Knockout's voice came through the Decepticon com links, _"__I have the medical results for our _guest_you requested and you'll be pleased to hear- they aren't looking too good. Shall I bring them to the bridge?"_

_"__No, Knockout,"_ Megatron growled_, "I wish to hear them as Optimus' spark is ripped from his lifeless husk!"_

Ratchet let out an intake of breath; breaking the silence.

_"__What was that?"_ Megatron hissed, _"__That sharp sound. Was it one of your experiments Knockout?"_

_"__No lord Megatron- I'm sure it was just an equipment error of some sort."_

_"__Soundwave! Monitor our frequencies make sue this wasn't an Auto-"_

Ratchet shut off the link, letting out a rattling breath as he did so.

"We have to get Optimus back," his voice rusty, "Get him back- before Megatron can carry out what he plans to do. Without Optimus- the war is lost."

**SORRY AGAIN THAT I'VE TAKEN SO LONG TO UPDATE, ONCE AGAIN- EXAMS ARE KEEPING ME BUSY!**

**SO ONCE MORE- THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED AND KEEP IT UP!**

**I NEED COMMENTS LIKE... LIKE... AUTOBOTS NEED ENERGON!**

**LL99 OUT! (;**


	10. Consider yourself demoted

**Chapter 9**

**Optimus Prime P.O.V **

Raising his battered cranium off the metal slab, the once great Optimus Prime attempted to discover the source of commotion, his single functioning optic flickering in the dim light of the room. No one. Autobot or Decepticon.

He let out a pained breath with echoed harshly around his table as a wheeze. From that alone, Optimus could tell that he would not leave the room alive. It was here that he would meet the all spark and leave this Earth in the hands of his team or the Decepticons. Yet if that were so- then why hadn't he felt a tugging to alert him to the matrix of leadership wanting to be passed on?

It didn't make sense.

Suddenly, a noise made Optimus' optic flicker towards the door.

It opened. The lord of destruction entered.

Once again, Optimus attempted to pull at his bonds but to no avail. He couldn't break the Dark energon's effects on his paralysed form.

"Still struggling Orion?" Megatron mocked, his blaster arm gesturing into thin air, "You can't escape for I control every part of your body."

Without any warning, a searing pain shot through the whole of the Prime's form, making him convulse violently as a groan passed his frozen lips.

"Feel that Optimus?" the dark lord hissed, grinning, "I can even make the dark energon inside you attack your inner workings." His face became concentrated, and what felt like a blade being pushed inside his stomach plates forced a scream from Optimus, causing Megatron to cackle with glee.

"But that takes energy_\- old friend_," he spat, "So you force me to use more… _physical_ measures…"

Megatron's hand vanished out of the Prime's field of vision, but returned a second later clasping a rotating saw- the one snapped off of Knockout.

"Although our sessions together have become quite enjoyable, allow me to cut to the chase, so to speak," the saw lowered till it was just touching Optimus' chest plates, "You have two options, Optimus. Hand the matrix of leadership over to me, or I will rip it from your lifeless husk."

Optimus felt the tenseness from his face slacken as his foe released the dark energon flow.

"I… Would never… Entrust the… Matrix of, leadership… to a Decepticon…" Optimus' optics narrowed, glaring at Megatron, waiting for his chest plates to be ripped apart.

But it never came.

"Optimus, you will hand over the Matrix on way or another- so let me ask again."

The saw plunged into the Prime's chest, the vice like grip around Optimus' head tightened as the energon flow was returned.

He screamed.

Sparks and energon mixed before his eyes, the evil face of Megatron still visible through the mist of pain, his purple optics glowing brightly.

The saw was removed.

"How about the location of your base?" Megatron snarled, leaning in close to his prisoner.

Once again, the energon flow loosened around Optimus' cranium, allowing him to reply.

"…Never…" he managed to gasp before the saw was pushed back into his chest plates, cutting deeper into his torso, creating a deep wound spurting energon thick and fast.

Optimus didn't even hold enough energy to cry out, only groan lightly.

Megatron pulled out the blade harshly, creating more damage on it's way out. He threw the instrument aside, allowing it to clatter upon the metal floor before reaching into the wound with his own fingers, rooting about inside the Prime's torso.

For Optimus- it was the most horrific sensation he had ever experienced. He could feel Megatron's cold, sharp fingers moving about beneath his plating, then… they stopped prying, and through his wide optic, Optimus could see his foe's delighted expression. The fingers tightened, and pulled away, and the Prime could see the silver hand exiting his chest holding- no… it couldn't be… Clasped in Megatron's fingers was a small- basically flat- piece of metal with thin, blue lines.

The Matrix of Leadership.

The leader of the Decepticon army flashed his pointed fangs at his sworn enemy, flicking the blue and purple energon from his hand, splashing it across what was barely recognisable as Optimus' chest plates.

"Orion- we Decepticons are forever in your debt. Consider yourself demoted from the rank of Prime…"

He turned and left Optimus alone in the dark, leaking energon, in extreme pain, and without the precious Matrix…

**SO THERE'S MEGATRON'S INTENTIONS! SO WHAT DO YA ALL THINK.**

**SORRY FOR THE LONG TIME TO UPDATE- EXAMS ARE KEEPING ME BUSY AND SADLY- THEY TAKE PRIORITY... ):**


	11. Glad you could join the party

**Chapter 10**

**Ratchet P.O.V**

"Arcee, you go-"

"Through the bridge first with Bulk, I know Ratchet, it's the same plan as the last twenty times."

"This mission is our only shot-"

"Rach, cool it- we can do this."

"Fine, fine, but if it goes wrong then it _will_ come down on you, Bulkhead."

The green Autobot shrugged and transformed his hand, Arcee doing the same in front of him.

"Bumblebee?"

The yellow Bot beeped an all ready.

Ratchet nodded and hit the ground bridge controls, opening up the portal. Arcee and Bulkhead rushed forth, closely followed by Bumblebee then Ratchet.

He nodded to Raf who sat before the largest monitor, ready to open up the return bridge as Jack and Mikio stood ready to monitor communications.

Ratchet passed through the bridge and into the roaring chaos of the mine. Drills were buzzing everywhere, while foot soldiers cut through crystallised energon with their guns, and on top of all the workers, on the upper rim, a group of guards were milling about, their guns swinging randomly.

Ratchet looked over to where the rest of the time were hiding. Arcee was crouched beneath a broken drilling machine, Bulkhead just behind her, but next to a large bolder. Bumblebee had swung unseen onto the next level, the one which would receive a lift to the warship, and had managed to hide in between the piles of mined energon.

Ratchet knew he had to make his move soon, or else he would risk being left behind due to his lack of speed and agility, so he checked for Decepticon foes. Only a single guard was paying the slightest bit off attention to Ratchet's area, but he appeared to be focused on other matters, while the miners surrounding the team's position were all facing the walls- oblivious to anyone who may move through the centre of the cavern.

Looking towards the others, Ratchet raised a fist, then pointed two fingers upwards, just as he'd seen Optimus do many times. Move. The team nodded, then as one, they moved. Arcee took the lead once again, Ratchet hot on her heels who was followed by the less graceful Bulkhead.

The guard snapped to attention suddenly, spotting the three Autobots making a break for the next level. He raised his hand to his com link to open up a line, just as Bulkhead looked up, raising his blaster. The shot went wide, catching the rock above the guard and beneath his face mask, the guard laughed, but to his horror, he realised to late what the green Autobot had done. There was a faint rumble as a plate of loose rock slid downwards, landing on top of the dim guard.

On ground level, Bulkhead grinned and put a thumb up to Arcee.

The rest of the desperate sprint went as planned, the team all reaching the next level before anyone else turned, and, Ratchet mused, he wasn't yet out of breath.

It took an hour of crouched watching and waiting for the Warship to reach mine 4573 and for the lift to be lowered. As it touched down, stage 2 began.

Ratchet pulled out a small metal box and opened it. Inside, there sat four thick bands, all smooth with a tiny screen planted into them, the medic pulled them out and passed one to each member of the team, clasping his own around his wrist.

"To activate it- press the green button, and to disarm it- press the red." He whispered to the others, pointing to the device as he spoke, "The screen will light up only to you- and will show the position of the other band wearers. Make your way to the lift, but make sure that you do NOT touch another being. Once we get up there," he pointed to the warship, "Wait in the outside corridor and we'll go from there."

There were nods all around as each Bot clipped on their bands.

"Bumblebee?" Ratchet turned to the scout.

Bumblebee held up five fingers, four, three, two, one- everybody turned on their bands, turning them invisible, before one by one, they followed the dot on their screen labelled "Bee."

They ran invisible in a tight arrow head formation, never tripping over one another or touching any Decepticon foes, well at least until they were a couple of metres away from the lift. That was the moment Bulkhead- who ran at the back- tripped over a stray piece of energon, flying into the guard who they had avoided earlier.

The others held their breath as Bulkhead and the guard tottered about the edge.

They swayed as one over, then rocked back. Then swayed. Then back.

Suddenly, the guard dropped over the edge, landing with a sickening crack on the floor below, however Bulkhead's dot singled that he was still on the edge.

Ratchet pressed a finger to his com link and whispered,

"Bulkhead, move."

The dot wavered for a second, before Bulkhead moved towards the gathering of dots.

They all froze.

A Decepticon miner was staring at the space the fallen guard had occupied only seconds before.

It shrugged, "Shouldn't have gone near the edge." It muttered before walking off.

At once, the Autobots let out a collective sigh then continued on their journey.

From there they got to the lift without fault, reaching it and boarding it without any accidents. The lift rose, taking them above the mine and into the great warship.

The team all jumped off silently, then rushed to the outside corridor to wait for their next instructions.

"Discloak." A voice said and the rest followed Ratchet's order.

Arcee nodded at the medic,

"I can't believe that actually worked, Rach! It actually went as planned!"

Ratchet stared past the others, his face grim.

"Except for one thing," he muttered, "That wasn't me who spoke."

The others whipped around, weapons raised coming face to face with the cocky looking Knockout.

"Glad you could join the party." He sneered.

"Scrap."

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**REVIEW GUYS! WHAT'S KNOCKOUT GONA DO?!**

**Will Megatron be told?**

**Will Knockout "leak a little fluid"?**

**Will they kill him?**

**Will the team EVER find Optimus?!**

**as always- thanks for the reviews and please continue!**

**Also: THANKS to **BlueFireReturns **who is both amazing and a great writer! Check out her stuff!**

**LL99 OUT!**


	12. You wouldn't dare

**Chapter 11**

**General Autobot P.O.V**

And so commenced the standoff. Four Autobots, each with weapons raised, standing face to face with the Decepticon medic, Knockout.

"Well- I highly doubt that Megatron would believe me if I told him that a small Autobot army had just stormed the Warship- would he?"

Ratchet exchanged surprised glances with the other Bots.

"What do you want, Knockout?" Ratchet sighed, feeling an exchange coming.

The shiny, red Con held up two hands, his left ending in a stump at the wrist.

Everyone saw.

The Decepticon flushed and dropped his arm, shielding it behind his back. His face straightened, and the smug grin reappeared.

"I can take you to your leader."

"Why would you do that?" Bulkhead snapped back.

Knockout pulled out his injured arm once again, showing the slightly jagged cuts.

"Megatron ripped off my saw for his torture of the Prime. He snapped my arm clean in two- I hope you realise!"

The red and white Autobot shook his head sadly,

"Torture? Oh Optimus…"

Bulkhead rested a hand on their medic's shoulder plate, the other still trained at Knockout.

The Decepticon's optics narrowed,

"Excuse me! _I_ was the one who has been _savaged_ by their apparent lord and master!"

Arcee's optics widened.

"Apparent?" she echoed, "You're no longer loyal?"

Knockout's jaw hung open.

"I shouldn't have said that, should I?"

"Is that why you're willing to help us? So you can betray Megatron?" Ratchet queried.

"Well…" Knockout peered over his shoulder, checking that they were alone, "I wouldn't say betray…"

"What would you say then?" Arcee hissed, "A mutual agreement?"

Knockout shrugged,

"Sort of."

"Explain."

"Well, I'm not quite ready to betray the Decepticon cause… But…" he sighed, "Ineedyourhelpinfixingmyarm."

The Autobots exchanged puzzled looks.

"I'm sorry- what?" Arcee raised an eyebrow.

"By the all spark, this isn't as easy as it is in those human movies."

Bumblebee raised his blaster even higher.

"Okay! Okay! Give the proud time to fall!"

"Spill it, Con."

"Alright then. I. Need. You. To. Fix. My. Arm. Got it?"

Ratchet shook his head,

"And why in the name of Primus should we do that? Fixing your arm would require you to enter our _secure, hidden_ base and end up with more work for _me_, _plus_, I _highly_ doubt your presence would improve our chances of finding Optimus."

Rolling his optics, the Con leant forward,

"Who put the old, grumpy one in charge anyway? In fact, I will bet that your base's location would not be revealed to me if I just enter a simple ground bridge!"

"Who did you just call old? I'll let _you_ know_, Decepticon_\- that_I_, in my prime was proving my scrap in the war for Cybertron- and where were you? In some Femme's arms? Well- I'll bet that _I_ have-"

"Enough!" Arcee slammed a powerful hand into each of the medic's chest plates, halting their argument, "Bickering among yourselves won't get anything done. Knockout- Will you help us or not?"

The Con glared at Ratchet, then dropped his gaze to his damaged limb, and back up again.

"Fine." He sighed, "But I'm really sticking my neck out for you I hope you realise."

Ratchet huffed, allowing Arcee to give the next orders.

"Knockout, you lead the way while we follow behind." There were nods from everyone, "But, if you in any way betray us, Con- I'll put a shot through your back and scratch your pain in the one place you cannot buff properly," Arcee's sharp eyes danced over his lower back, "And…" she mused, a smile stretching across her face plate, "I image that with Breakdown gone, cleaning up wouldn't be so easy…"

Knockout's optics narrowed.

"You wouldn't dare." He hissed.

Arcee snapped out her blades,

"Try me."

Knockout opened his mouth to bite back a reply when suddenly, thundering footfalls filled the corridor.

"Scrap." Arcee cursed, clicking on her band, followed closely by the others- leaving Knockout standing (apparently) alone, his mouth open and gawking.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM.

"Knockout. What are you doing away from our guest?" Megatron's gravelly voice snapped, jolting the Decepticon medic to his senses.

"What do you mean away? Lord Megatron. I'm right here with them."

The dark lord rose arched an eyebrow as his medical chief turned around.

Knockout received a light tap to the back plates and immediately changed tack.

"I mean… I know I'm not in there… but, I should be _going_ to our _guest_\- shouldn't I?" Knockout added emphasis to certain words, in a desperate attempt to get the Autobot's attention. He then received a lighter tap to his back.

He released the breath he'd been holding.

Megatron cocked his head in bafflement, but turned heel with a wave of his arm, signalling for Knockout to follow.

As the two Decepticons started off down the hallway, the Autobots sprang into action, silently following their guide and his master to Optimus, each silently praying to the All spark that they could stage a rescue mission now that Megatron had appeared.

It didn't take long for the small group to reach Knockout's medical laboratory, and in the few seconds as Knockout unlocked the doors, each of the Autobots readied their weapons- only for Megatron to spin around, blaster raised- his purple optics glinting menacingly.

"Uncloak and raise your hands. NOW!"

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**PLOT TWIST!**

**Can they overwhelm the mighty megatron?**

**Was Knockout responsible for this?**

**Who will pay the price?**

**Could Megatron be bluffing?**

**REVIEWS WILL BE WORSHIPED AS PRIMUS!**

**LL99 OUT!**


	13. A little surprise for you

**Chapter 12**

**Optimus P.O.V **

There was a time when the darkness would be a disadvantage, when it would hinder the mission at hand, when it would only create unease and wariness.

There was a time…

Now, the darkness brought new thoughts and emotions to the fatally wounded Prime: feelings such as peace and rest, such as security and wellbeing. Darkness meant that his foe was not in the room, and that the torture sessions had halted for the time being.

In the darkness, he could power down and gather what little strength remained, for here- there was no more pain- no more Megatron- and most of all-

"PRIME!"

Optimus wished he could snap around and face Megatron, but even if the dark energon wasn't binding his body, he knew his strength was gone.

"Today, Optimus, I have a little surprise for you- found in the corridor, with my medic- I present to you, team Prime."

There was a series of metallic bangs- four to be precise- and inside, Optimus felt something drop.

"Optimus! What have you done to him?!"

No… Ratchet.

"I have only taken what should have been mine." Megatron tapped his chest, much to the confusion of the Autobots, yet Optimus knew what he meant. The matrix of leadership.

Megatron moved out of Optimus' line of vision, but his voice still reached the wounded Autobot leader.

"See what has become of your _great _leader," Megatron hissed to team Prime, "See what_I_\- the mighty Megatron- has done to the last of the Primes! Now, now at this very hour- I will extinguish this pathetic spark in front of his own team- the team which could not save their own leader!"

"NO!" Ratchet cried from where he lay, the agony in his voice cutting Optimus deeper than any weapon could.

Megatron strolled back to Optimus' side, his sword arm raised as an evil glinting filled the purple optics. The sword dropped, screams of team Prime filled his ears, as an unbearable pain flared up in Optimus' chest and his sight faded to darkness.

The only thing which reached him as he fell into oblivion was the manic laugh of his destroyer.

Megatron had won…

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**Sorrry for the very short chapter- but I aim to get the next one up tomorrow.**

**REVIEWS WILL BE CROWNED AS LORDS OF COO-COO LAND!**

**LL99 OUT.**


	14. The mysterious voice

**Chapter 13**

**Ratchet P.O.V**

Denial. That was what he was suffering at that very moment. He couldn't care for the Decepticons dragging him bodily down corridor after endless corridor, or for the shackles binding his wrists- all he could see was Optimus. His dear friend and team mate- the one who had shared battle after countless battle with- only to see the warlord Megatron plunge his dirty blade into Optimus' chest.

And the energon. The mass of the pale liquid.

No Bot could have survived that amount of lost Energon. It was scientific fact.

The medic lifted his head up in time to watch a thick, metal door slid shut behind Bulkhead and his four guards. Great- now they were in a holding cell.

One by one the Autobots were freed from their bonds- only to be attached to electromagnetic ones which hung from the ceiling instead, ones which held his rusting joints at awkward angles, Ratchet thought, but it did give his tired spark something else to focus upon.

He bowed his head once more as the guards left.

"Ratchet!" Arcee hissed, "Could Optimus still be-"

"Alive?" Ratchet whispered hoarsely, "No."

"But he's got the power of the primes, that'll come I useful- won't it?" Bulkhead faltered at the old Autobot's gaze.

"That amount of Energon being spilled, along with…" Ratchet saw the image of his battered friend once more and faltered, took a breath despite not needing one, then continued, "…Those wounds- the only way for Optimus to be alive would be extensive surgery and a life support machine- which I highly doubt that Megatron would even_consider _using!"

Bumblebee hummed softly,

"What's the point?" Ratchet scoffed. "I said it once- I've said it a thousand times, without Optimus- or an heir to the matrix- the war is lost. We may as well pledge our loyalties to Megatron right now or our heads-"

"RATCHET! Enough! Are you even listening to yourself?! Have you lost your fraggin' mind?! What would Optimus say?"

Ratchet's optics budged in anger, his jaw clenching as did his fists.

"Don't you use Optimus against me! We stand no chance at ever- and I mean _ever_\- defeating Megatron without the power of a Prime!"

Silence filled the cell- the mixture of grief and failure a bitter taste in each Autobot mouth. Ratchet continued to stare at the ground, his mind rolling continuously over the way Optimus had been slaughtered before their optics, how his body had already been tortured to the point of destruction and how his optics had faded to darkness.

First the Great War, then Cliffjumper, and now: Optimus.

Would the suffering never end? When would Cybertronians be able to live in harmony once again?

Ratchet was an old bot- he knew that- he had seen the War start, then continue to a new planet- but what really hurt his spark was how the younger Bots were brought up during the destruction- how Bots such as Bumblebee hadn't really known much else than fighting.

"The matrix chooses the next Prime after the last one… leaves… Doesn't it?" Arcee muttered, breaking apart Ratchet's thoughts along with eth silence.

"That's correct…" Ratchet mumbled in reply- not understanding the reason behind the question.

"Then why hasn't it come zooming over to one of us?" Arcee snapped at no one in particular, "Surely the next Prime would have to be one of us? We're the only ones fighting the Decepticons at the moment. We would be the logical explanation."

"There are other settlements of Cybertronian beings in this galaxy, we just happened to be the lot with Megatron." The medic rolled his eyes, "Anyway- who would be a Prime?! I mean_, p-lease_!" he scoffed, "Bulkhead?! You?! B-"

"Bumblebee?" Arcee cocked her head sarcastically.

Ratchet froze for a second, "_And_ Bumblebee! He's too inexperienced as a warrior!"

Bulkhead leant forward as much as his bonds would allow,

"Wasn't Optimus a clerk?"

Shaking his head, the red and white Bot sagged in defeat,

"What's your point?"

"My point is, what if Optimus isn't… gone… what if the matrix hasn't arrived to one of us because Optimus is still alive?"

Ratchet felt his optics grow wide.

"Alive?! It's not possible. His wounds are- _were_\- too severe." Arcee picked up on the dropped word and grinned, "Even _if_ Optimus _were_ still alive," Ratchet continued, "We're trapped in here, with guards and no way out."

Bulkhead looked to the yellow scout, both with deep despair in their eyes, and Ratchet instantly regretted his words.

"You mean were all going to get scrapped?" Bulkhead groaned, "That we've lost the war?" Opposite him, Bee shivered.

"What I'm say is-" Ratchet froze, his optics appearing to burst from their sockets.

"Is what?!" Bulkhead snapped, "That-"

"Quiet!" Ratchet looked haunted, his mouth hanging open in apparent shock.

Haunted seemed the right word, for he could hear something, something extremely faint- so much so he was almost certain he'd imagined it until it came again,

"_R…Rat-chet…_"

The other Autobots froze, they could hear it as well.

"Is it…" Arcee muttered.

Bee nodded and whistled, his optics darting around the cell nervously.

"_A…re… you… th…ere…"_

Ratchet finally managed to stammer his question to the mysterious voice.

"Optimus? Is that you?"

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**IS IT A VOICE FROM BEOND THE GRAVE OR AN ILLUSION?**

**WHAT'S HAPPENED?!**

**REVIEWS ARE GOING TO BE BUILT A STATUE IN WORSHIP!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one up in a week or so!**

**LL99 OUT!**


	15. Your leader's dead

**Chapter 14**

**Ratchet P.O.V**

There was a long pause before the voice- sounding like Optimus- spoke again.

_"__Ne-ed… he…lp… lo-ossing… Ener…gon…"_

The voice was barely a whisper, sounding extremely weak and pathetic- not like their leader at all.

Ratchet looked around at team Prime, catching Arcee's optic,

"What if it's a-" she started, but froze at the medic shook his head.

"We're already captured, Arcee, but losing Optimus means we've lost the war…" his own optics brightened in a slightly manic way, "But if it's really Optimus- and from his vocal patterns, I assure you it is-"

"Um, Ratch-" Bulkhead muttered, "Didn't you just say that there was no chance Optimus could be alive?"

Ratchet paused, his brain whirling in an attempt to piece together the pieces of the confusing mystery, "Think Ratchet, think… He had fatal chest wound, various scratches, dent and cuts… _Maybe_… just, _maybe_, NO! Bulkhead! If there was the slightest chance in the entire- and I mean entire- universe- that Optimus would still be alive- would you search for it no matter how long it took?"

The large, green Autobot nodded, as did Bumblebee and Arcee. Ratchet knew he had their attention.

"So it's settled. We must find Optimus, and rescue him-"

"Um- Ratchet," Arcee interrupted, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

The medic stared at the femme blankly, until she shook her limbs, allowing the chains holding them to clank together.

Ratchet froze- he had been so caught up in the moment of relief that he had forgotten about their predicament. There was no way to escape.

Turning his head to his helpless hand, he attempted to transform it to get his blowtorch, yet his wrist plate scrapped against the manacle, sending a light electric shock through his system. He reminded himself never to attempt that again.

"There's no escape." Groaned Bulkhead, "The only way we could be let out is if a Con decided to walk in here and-"

The prison room door slid open, revealing a freshly polished Knockout.

Each pair of Autobot optics followed the Con as he made his way to the control panel imbedded in the far wall. He started to hum in his normal arrogant way as he pushed some buttons, and suddenly- unexpectedly- the manacles around team Prime's wrists loosened- allowing them to all drop to the floor.

"…release us…" Bulkhead finished his jaw hanging open. He looked at Bumblebee in shock, then as one- each Autobot raised their weapons- all except Ratchet for his swords weren't that useful in their current situation.

Knockout stopped humming, and still facing the wall muttered in a sing-song voice,

"You're wel-come! I mean-" his voice returned to normal as he started to turn, "you Autobots claim to be the good guys- but by the all spark- you are just as-" he screamed- only just realising those he just freed had their blasters raised. At him.

"See!" the red Con exclaimed, "Instead of being grateful- you raise your guns at me! Where has all consideration gone?"

The Bots just stared at each other.

"You did that- on purpose?" Arcee stuttered, "But… why? You betrayed us."

Knockout rolled his optics, "Have you seen how I have been treated here?! All I need is you to fix my shattered appendix in return for the help getting out of here."

"But you're still a Con." Ratchet pointed out bluntly, "How do we know that you won't betray us? Besides- we know how to reach Optimus."

Knockout paused, cocked his head, one eyebrow raised, "Your leader's dead."

Ratchet grunted and folded his arms, "We have to get him."

"You're going back- risking all of our sparks for a husk?!" The con shook his head in surprise, "You all have a screw loose!"

"We're loyal and true to our word," mused Arcee, "and I'm sure that Megatron won't fix your arm."

"At this rate- neither will I." Ratchet growled, but Arcee interrupted,

"Look- you can still lend a hand- and if you can get us out of here- then I'm sure we will repair your arm," she shot a glance at Ratchet who just huffed and nodded half-heartedly, "So you still in?"

Knockout turned his head to his damaged arm, then to the Autobots, and back again.

"Alright," he sighed, "What is it you need?"

Arcee looked to the red and white Bot, and gave him a small nod. Sighing, Ratchet stepped forth,

"First of all, we need you to get us something…"

**SO KNOCKOUT'S BACK!**

**Knockout: For now.**

**Ratchet: You ****_will_**** help us to find Optimus! Or else it'll be more than your arm which is damaged!**

**Knockout: Now, now- t,there's no need for violence!**

**(Ratchet holds out his blowtorch)**

**Knockout: AGGGHHHHHHH! GET THAT FRAGGING MEDIC AWAY FROM ME!**

**SO WHAT DO YA ALL THINK- I'LL TRY TO GET THE NEXT CHAP UP BY SATURDAY!**

**REVIEW AS ALWAYS!**

**LL99 OUT!**

**Ratchet: Ha ha ha! I've got you now Knockout!**

**Knockout: Not the finish- please not the finish... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	16. Does not come from medical experience

**Chapter 15**

It took the Decepticon medic the best part of an hour to find, take and return all four of the cloaking devices from various labs- where other scientists were attempting –and to Ratchet's delight failing- to reverse engineer the complex gadgets. It took a long time- but eventually- they were clear to rescue their leader.

Passing out the cloaking devices, Knockout asked the one question everyone was thinking,

"Will somebody please tell me _how_ we are even going to escape_if _we even get your leader?"

Four pairs of optics swivelled to Ratchet, who only raised a finger to his com.

"Rafael, are you still there?"

There was a moment of static before a small voice came through.

"Ratchet? What happened to you guys? I haven't been able to contact you for the past hour."

Quickly- Ratchet filled the youngest human in on the details, pausing for comments such as "bring Knockout here?!" or "Megatron _stabbed_ Optimus?" but once Ratchet had reached his plan- he had everyone's undying attention.

"Rafael- in a minute I will require a ground bridge-"

"Wait." Arcee stammered, "You're leaving us? What about Optimus? Won't he need medical assistance?"

Ratchet shook his head sadly.

"You'll only have a narrow time frame to get in and get Optimus out so there will be no time for me to see to him before you bring him through- besides," he paused, "I need to prepare for some major surgery from what we've seen." Grave looks and nods met his gaze, "The rest of you will follow Knockout to Optimus and call us to send a ground bridge when you have him. You'll have to be quick and silent- no trip ups this time for they will see there was a ground bridge in here- so they will have to assume that we've all left." They all nodded and prepared their cloaking devices. "But don't leave until someone sees_me_ leaving through the bridge. Oh, and Knockout-" Ratchet moved his gaze- "you can't be in here or else you'll alert suspicion. Go to your lab and pretend your analysing my cloaking device so you going to Optimus won't be too obvious."

The medic paused, looked around him then at the slightly stunned faces and asked if there were any questions.

"What role did you do in _your_ days?" Arcee stammered, "That level of planning does _not_ come from medical experience."

Ignoring her, Ratchet looked to the others, "Any _relevant _questions?"

There was no answer so the medic touched his com, "Rafael- send the ground bridge."

"_One bridge coming up… now!"_ The young boy's voice came over the com, "Oh, and the rest of you- better keep radio silence in case Soundwave does any scans to search for you."

Arcee shook her head, "And that level of Decepticon tactics does not come from a short time in our base…"

There was a laugh over the com and a, _"__Good luck."_

Ratchet nodded to Knockout- a sign for him to run away, which he instantly did as the rest cloaked, waiting for the Decepticons to arrive. It only took a minute for the thundering footfalls of the foot soldiers to arrive at the room and Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee all held their metaphorical breaths. Ratchet started to run through the ground bridge, shouting, "They're here! Shut the bridge! I'm the last one!" for added effect which apparently seemed to work.

Decepticon weapons were swivelled, searching almost half-heartedly- for any remaining foes. As none were visible, one Con sent a report back to their master,

"Lord Megatron- the Autobots have escaped." A pause. "Certain, my lord- we watched them escape through the bridge ourselves." Another pause, followed by an order to the Cons in the room, "Squad A, report back to Megatron. Squad B- check on Knockout- make sure he's not working with the Bots."

The Cons nodded and hurried off to their assigned posts, leaving the Bots alone once again.

"Right." Arcee's voice cut through the heavy silence, "Now let's go and get Optimus."

**THERE IS THE PLAN- BUT THE QUESTION IS- WILL IT BE SUCCESSFUL?**

**WILL THEY GET OPTIMUS' BODY?**

**WILL MEGATRON FIND THEM?**

**WILL KNOCKOUT EVER GET HIS ARM FIXED?**

**FIND OUT SOON!**

**LL99 OUT!**


	17. So do you trust me now

**Chapter 16**

**Rafael P.O.V**

As soon as he reached the base, Ratchet rushed over to his lab, completely ignoring Rafael who was monitoring the communications between Decepticons and listening out for the Autobot's.

There was a loud clash followed by several smaller ones. This was followed by even more noise, then a, "Tools, tools! Where are my tools?" as Ratchet's panicked voice came echoing out from the back part of the base, forcing the human boy to turn around in surprise. In all his time here, he- like the other humans- had never seen Ratchet scared. In all honesty- it was terrifying. The medic was usually so composed but always with a sharp comment at the ready, yet now, now he was throwing things around in a crazed desperation.

"Ratchet!" The red and white Autobot froze as he realised Rafael had been watching the entire time but Rafael pretended to ignore the embarrassed face plate and continued, "What's the matter?"

Ratchet shook his head, turning on his sharp sarcasm, "I have no ide-"

"Listen Ratchet- I'm not stupid," Ratchet opened his mouth to disagree, then realising who he was talking to- decided to shut up, "this is about Optimus- isn't it?"

What Raf was expecting was nothing like what actually happened. He'd expected an argument, a sarcastic sigh or a denial. He hadn't expected the elder Autobot to slowly sink to the floor and rest his head in his hands.

"Ratchet?" Raf tried, rushing down the stairs to reach the medic's level.

"I… I don't know what to do…" he choked out, his sad face plate staring at the human, "From what I saw…" Ratchet shook his head, "What if he isn't still alive? What if I've just sent everyone on an impossible mission? What if-"

"Enough." Raf's harsh tone made the medic look sharply up, shocked at the boy's manner, "You can't focus on the others right now- you need to get the lab ready-" the boy jumped into Ratchet's outstretched palm and stared into the wide face, "if Optimus is _really_ that bad- then it's going to be your job to bring him back- isn't it?"

Ratchet paused and let out a shuddering sigh, "What if I… _can't_ fix what Megatron has done? Without Optimus- what can we do?"

Rafael shrugged, "He'll be in good hands," he smiled and rested a hand on Ratchet's, bringing a sad smile to the Autobot's face, "anyway- you managed to fix up Bulkhead after the Tox-N exposure, you helped to expel Megatron from Bumblebee's mind, you saved my life- you've done all of that- so you will fix Optimus- it just may take more time…"

Ratchet nodded then turned his gaze towards the messy lab. In a thick voice, he muttered, "This isn't getting anything done, is it?" he awkwardly stood and set Raf down at the monitor, before moving towards his lab.

"Oh, and Rafael-" the boy turned to the medic, meeting the sad gaze, "thank you."

**Arcee P.O.V**

"Bulkhead- keep our guide in your sights- we still can't trust what he says." The femme pressed a finger to her comlink, "Ratchet- do you have a fixing on Optimus?" she asked, hoping that they wouldn't have to rely upon the Decepticon, despite him being the one who freed them.

The medic's voice crackled out of the link- his voice sounding thick- probably from the heavy static, "No- you will have to rely on Knockout, Arcee, he knows the ship and he did free us. Anyway- the cloaking mechanism- I have just found out- does interfere with your signals- therefore- we may or may not be able to contact you or be able to bring up the ground bridge- say- one step from where you're standing."

"Copy that Ratch- we'll attempt to contact you once we have Optimus."

There was a pause as the signal went completely, but returned long enough to hear, "…Listening- repeat Soundwave could be listening. Good luck- you cannot afford for any mistakes this time- and do not contact us until you have Optimus or if you have a situation."

There was a beep as the signal disconnected, leaving Arcee with only the Intel of Knockout to lead them to Optimus.

"So after all we've been through, you still don't trust me?" The red con glared at the two Bots, seeming more annoyed about not being trusted than betraying Megatron's rule. As they walked- the two Bots cloaked- Knockout continuously rubbed the stump of his arm almost subconsciously- Arcee watched with a small smile at his vanity. He paused- looked down at his wrist and started cursing under his breath once again, "I hold no allegiance to Megatron-" he fell silent as two foot soldiers passed, waited a few moments then continued, "I mean- he snapped my fragging arm off! That was unnecessary and just cruel hearted!"

Bulkhead went up behind the con and jabbed him with his blaster, forcing him into silence, "Quiet you!" he hissed, "You'll blow our cover!" there was a pause, before he huffed, "And it's not like you're not."

Knockout froze- looked around him then turned suddenly. Bulkhead's voice quickly appeared, apologising in whispers, "I didn't mean it- just carry on walking. You're going to blow our cover you idiot!"

Knockout gave his signature cocky grin, "We're here." Was all he said. Bulkhead's stammering fell silent.

"Is it safe to discloak?" Arcee muttered and after a nod from the red Con, she did just that, but staying close to the wall, "Open it." She gestured towards the door.

"M…Me? You sure?" Knockout's beady eyes darted from the door, to the Bot's- then back again, "What if Megatron's in there?"

The Autobots swapped a glance and Arcee sighed, "If he is, then you're the perfect one to enter."

"Why me?"

"You're the one who's supposed to be checking on Optimus right?" A nod. "Then you're the one to enter."

When the Con still didn't move- Arcee nodded at her two companions and Bulkhead pushed Knockout forward with his blaster. Grudgingly, Knockout pushed the button for the door, sighed and stepped forward. And once again- froze. He covered his head in self-protection, making the Bots raise their blasters, however Knockout halted his shaking and raised his head, peering around the room. Instantly, the Con straightened and placed his intact hand on his hip.

"Told you it would be fine." He sighed cockily, starting to inspect his carefully manicured hand- and much to Arcee's annoyance, he added a sarcastic, "So do you trust me now?"

Ignoring him, Arcee raised her blasters and still being cautious, edged closer to the doorway. She nodded to Bumblebee and Bulkhead and as one, the three jumped out of the cover of the frame and into the room.

They scanned the surrounding area- both continuing to ignore the optic roll from Knockout- and slowly, out of the shadows of the room, the horrific sight met their optics.

"No…" The femme Bot gasped, her blasters retracting, as behind her, Bee shivered and Bulkhead gasped in shock.

**DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN!**

**So lets put this out there:**

**WHO THINKS OPTIMUS IS ALIVE?**

**WHO THINKS OPTIMUS IS DEAD?**

**WHO THINKS RATCHET'S HAVING A MENTAL BREAKDOWN?**

**WHO THINKS KNOCKOUT'S UP TO SOMETHING?**

**REVIEWS! I NEED REVIEWS! THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE REVIEWED!**

**LL99 OUT!**


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